


a whole list of reasons i should stop before i start

by stefonzolesky



Series: domestic blunder [2]
Category: Arrested Development
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M, this acts as a sort of prequel to the last one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-15 02:29:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14781953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stefonzolesky/pseuds/stefonzolesky
Summary: Michael smugly offers Gob this advice, “Treat her how you wish you would have been treated.”





	a whole list of reasons i should stop before i start

Gob never, never,  _ ever _ believed himself to be someone who could take care of a child.

Tony is incredible with kids. He somehow knows what Dove’s every cry means and exactly how to make her stop. Which Gob is thankful for, because he can’t stand to hear her cry.

When she cries, Gob’s heart sinks, and his first thought is always, “I knew I would fuck this up somehow.” 

 

When he told Lucille that he and Tony were adopting a kid, she had laughed in his face.

“You? Take care of a child?” She had said. “You can’t even take care of a bird for a day.”

Gob had fumed, because it’s not his fault that he doesn’t know how to raise a child -- his parents neglected him because he was only a device. His mother had used him, and then ignored him because she no longer needed him.

So, ashamed, he had gone to Michael.

 

Michael doesn’t have a good relationship with his son, and he never should have. Gob knows this for a fact. Still, though, Gob is the only person in the family who was taken care of as a child and can take care of a child.

He smugly offers Gob this advice, “Treat her how you wish you would have been treated.”

 

Tony feeds him constant reassurance, promises him that he’ll be a great father, not like his own parents at all. Because he  _ understands. _ He understands what it’s like to have bad parents.

The moment Gob sees Dove, his mother’s words start ringing through his head.

 

_ “You’ll never be a good parent.” _

_ “You’ve never had the experience. You don’t know anything. You need a tester, or something, but you won’t be able to do this right.” _

_ “Someone needs to save that poor child from your grip.” _

_ “You’ll ruin this just like you ruin everything else.” _

 

And, the second he holds her, she bursts into tears. His heart drops like it’s never dropped before.

They go back home. Tony drives, because Dove is crying, and it makes Gob feel like he's going to explode because he's  _so upset._

He’ll get the hang of it, though. He knows he will.

And when he sees Tony holding their daughter, watching a children’s show on TV as she sits up on his lap, sucking on her thumb in concentration, he thinks: yeah, I could get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry this is short! i got super motivated because season 5 is tomorrow but Because it's tomorrow i couldn't write anything that puzzles into canon so this is what y'all get. i hope u enjoy.


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